Mamata Banerjee expressed concern and said that there was an urgent need to rescue and rehabilitate persecuted Indians on this side of the border. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the central government to seek the deployment of a peacekeeping mission by the Union Nations in Bangladesh to tackle the ongoing situation there.
Banerjee also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in bringing back the persecuted Indians from foreign soil. The Bengal CM further demanded that the Union minister of external affairs should inform the Parliament about India’s stance on the current situation in the neighbouring country. “The statement from the EAM should come during the ongoing winter session, if PM Modi is unavailable to do the job himself,” she said. Situation in Bangladesh has been tense over the alleged atrocities on Hindus and other minorities and the arrest of Hindu priests there. Speaking in the assembly, Banerjee said that commenting on the bilateral issues between the two countries was not under her power as Bengal is only a part of the nation. However, she said, “In the wake of the recent developments and the experience narrated by many people here having relatives and base in Bangladesh, the arrests of people coming over to our side and my conversations with the ISKCON representatives here, has forced me to make this statement on the floor of this House.”
The Bengal CM, however, urged external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue with the Dhaka authorities, and, if necessary with the United Nations. “If required, let an international peacekeeping force be sent to Bangladesh after talking to the (interim) government there to help them restore normalcy,” she said. Banerjee also said that there was an urgent need to rescue and rehabilitate persecuted Indians on this side of the border. “If required we can rehabilitate the Indians attacked in Bangladesh. We have no problem sharing our ‘one roti’ with them if the need arises. There will be no shortage of food for them,” she stated in the assembly.
The West Bengal chief minister pressed on her wish for harmony, fraternal ties and cordial relationship to remain between all the communities in Bangladesh and across the world. She also raked up the arrest of 79 Indian fishermen, who were detained a while back for straying into the Bangladeshi waters, and said, “our fishermen still remain in their captivity and are yet to be released”. “When the Bangladesh fishermen had entered into our waters, we ensured their safe return,” she recalled. Banerjee further accused the central government of “remaining mum for the past 10 days” despite the escalating tensions in the neighbouring country.
In a veiled jibe at the BJP, she said, “Why don’t they ask their central leadership to pursue the Centre to proactively intervene in the Bangladesh situation? Instead, their leaders are demanding closure of goods movement along our land borders.”
